


Liquid Gold

by hergan416



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, Nothing explicit, Relationship Conflict, mentions sex exists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:26:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21673657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hergan416/pseuds/hergan416
Summary: Prompt: Liquid gold, likes: Atem.----Post DSOD, Seto's brought Atem back from the afterlife to Domino. The first real set-back of their relationship now that they are together occurs when Atem gets curious about the music video that was played twenty times on his computer in Seto's office while he wasn't there. Investigation will lead him to learn a little more about Seto's past, but at what cost?
Relationships: Atem & Kaiba Seto
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3
Collections: Yu-Gi-Oh! It's Time to G-G-G-Gift! [Mini-Exchange]





	Liquid Gold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stereonightss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stereonightss/gifts).



> This was by far the least I have had to go on for a YGOME prompt yet, so I really hope that it provides something you were looking for. There were so many ways I could go with it, and the fic continued to grow on me even when I was trying to end it, so it's a bit of a monstrosity at this point. 
> 
> Note the fic starts with a link to a youtube video of the Bad Wolves cover of Zombie (originally the Cranberries). Watching the link if you have not done so before will help provide context for what follows.
> 
> Please enjoy.

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XaS93WMRQQ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XaS93WMRQQ)

Atem sat at the computer, simply searching the internet while he waited for Seto to finish up with his work. While he almost exclusively had been using this specific computer in Seto’s office space since coming back from the afterlife, occasionally Seto would use it to set the ambiance while Atem was gone. What Seto didn’t know is that Atem had figured out how to search the browsing history, and that he had recently seen that there were nearly 20 plays of the same youtube video.

Currently, Atem was listening to the song, and trying to figure out  _ why _ .

Far after the date of the video (February 2018), it was a tribute song to someone Atem hadn’t heard of: Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries. That in itself wasn’t surprising. He was woefully undereducated in popular culture, having not paid nearly enough attention to the phenomenon while in Yugi’s body and then spending several years in the ancient Egyptian afterlife after that.

_ Another head hangs lowly  
_ _ Child is slowly taken  
_ _ And the violence causes silence  
_ _ Who are we mistaken? _

The whole song seemed to be about the dangers of war, while a woman covered in gold paint frantically tried to communicate through a glass pane to the band, who kept playing the emotional tune. Her paint smeared messages eventually left her obscured from the band’s sight, and she turned away, fading into a message about the timeless nature of the song’s lyrics.

Why was this the mood Seto needed to set for himself? Normally the music was dramatic and wordless, video game or movie music, with a healthy dose of Lindsey Stirling mixed in. The kinds of things it was easy to think epic thoughts around, something that would inspire and not distract. What was going on?

“What were you working on last night?” seemed like prying. Atem never took too much interest in Kaiba Corp business, instead seeking to distract Seto in the few moments they had together. Besides, he would never get a chance to do that _tonight_ if he interrupted Seto _now_.

He googled Dolores O’Riordan and found a lot of unhelpful information on her wikipedia page, none of which made much sense to him. It didn’t seem that this song was meant to invoke the feeling of the woman it was in tribute to, so what was it meant to talk about? War? With whom was Seto fighting a war?

This seemed concerning, but once more, none of Atem’s business. But there was a very easy way to make it _someone’s_ business. He pulled up the Kaiba Corp instant messaging app on the computer, something else Atem figured Seto had also assumed that Atem wouldn’t understand how to use, and pulled open a chat with Mokuba.

Atem typed for a while, erasing each iteration of his thoughts before realizing he didn’t know how to start. What if Mokuba just told Seto? Then he would have not only have been snooping, but also betrayed Seto’s confidence. He closed the window of the messaging system and began browsing the internet in earnest again.

How much gold paint would he need to recreate that effect? He began researching paint, only to find there were many more different kinds of paint than he expected. He started to compare pools of paint to the paint in the video, finally deciding that the glossy texture of the paint seemed to be the most consistent with acrylic paint to him.

Then came the shopping. They came in such small quantities! He tried to determine the volume of paint required to cover the surface area of an average human, and the information seemed to come back in conflicting metrics. What was a m2 versus a square inch? He pulled open the messaging app again.

[ _Hey Mokuba, it’s Atem. What is the difference between a m2 and a square inch? Are they interchangeable?_ ]

Mokuba seemed amused, sending a laughing emoji back at Atem. [ _One’s regular metric and one’s the US’s weird system. Type “square inches to m2” into google and it should be able to convert it for you_ ]

[ _Tnx (thumbs up)_ ] Atem replied, doing what it said. 1.9 m2 was 2945.01 square inches. According to google, 1 ounce of paint would cover 25 square inches of surface area. So he would need to… multiply by 25? He couldn’t remember Yugi’s math. It seemed safer to multiply than to divide, though. So he would need 73,625.25 ounces of gold acrylic paint. Said google. So he needed to find a bunch of it. He found a suitable color and then got Seto’s attention.

“Can I buy something and get it sent to the house?”

“Yeah, sure, use my card. Should be pre-programmed into that one.” Seto didn’t even look up from his work. His eyebrows were creased and he looked like he was concentrating intensely on something.

“Thanks,” Atem added, though it fell on deaf ears.

A ding in his headphones alerted him that Mokuba had messaged him back.

[ _What for?_ ]

Leave it to Mokuba to be curious.

[ _A surprise for your brother. Something I saw in a music video and I thought would be fun._ ]

[ _OOOOOO can I help?_ ]

Atem ordered the paint and was glad to see that the credit card was indeed already activated on the computer.

[ _Ummmm… what bathroom in your house is the best to maybe get really messy?_ ]

[ _EWWW I WON’T BUG YOU TWO_ ] came the immediate response.

[ _But the one in the abandoned wing, probably, since no one goes in there._ ]

Atem’s belly churned. Seto always had that look on his face when they passed the abandoned wing. But if Mokuba thought that would be best because it would be the least inconvenient…

[ _Thanks_ ] Atem replied again, becoming more and more uncertain of his plan the further he went with it.

[ _Could you maybe tell Isono that when the shipment for Atem arrives, it should maybe be sent to that wing?_ ]

There had been too many maybes, and Atem didn’t care.

[ _Uhh sure_ ]

[ _Thank you Mokuba, your the best._ ]

The only reply that Atem got from Mokuba was a devil face emoji.

* * *

It was a lot of paint. The bottles were small, and only held 8 ounces each. Even though he wasn’t ready for his surprise, he decided to test the efficacy of the paint with one of the small bottles. Holding it over the oversized bathtub, he poured the contents of the bottle over his arm, starting midway down his elbow. He found that the paint had good coverage as it rolled down his arm, and he quickly snapped a phone picture to capture the effect. It definitely looked pretty. Sort of like a liquid gold, but one that didn’t involve killing thousands of innocent citizens.

Atem had to wonder if Mokuba also knew that this wing had the largest bathtub in the house, which seemed odd for an unused wing, but ideal for his plan. Perhaps also ideal if he had intended something more sexual in nature as well, as Mokuba had assumed. Hopefully Seto’s memories of the wing wouldn’t interfere with the beauty of the plan, and he’d find out if Seto liked naked people covered in gold paint.

It certainly _had_ been an interesting visual.

Atem ran the bath, glad that the wing still seemed to be hooked up to the water system, especially since he hadn’t thought about the fact that it might not be prior to pouring paint on his arm. He gently washed the paint down the drain, and was happy to see that it came off pretty easily with water. He watched the bottle of paint mix with the water in the bottom of the tub and smiled.

* * *

Finally, the time came. Atem had arranged with Mokuba a time that Seto would be in the house, and had asked the preteen to give him about twenty minutes in the bathroom and then tell Seto that Atem was there with a surprise for him. Mokuba seemed irritated to know the time that the supposed-messy sex would be occurring, but agreed after Atem tried the “think about Seto” card.

So, Atem stored his clothes in the open cupboard near the door that would probably have held a number of towels had the room still been in use. He then hung a pair of towels borrowed from the open wing neatly near the bath, before standing nervously in the tub with all of the acrylic paint containers and a trash can. He opened the cap of the first container and poured it over his arm, before realizing he didn’t have much time to finish the job. He began to rush to cover himself with the substance, no longer feeling he had time for nerves. His plan would either work or it wouldn’t.

He decided that he would have Seto help him finish the job, but wanted to give Seto a look at him at least half-covered in paint before having him help. Twenty minutes might not be nearly enough time.

At last, he felt mostly ready, and he tossed the final paint bottle into the trash can, nerves settling once more in his stomach now that he was waiting. What if Seto didn’t like it? He shook his head, once again settling on the obvious: either it would be appreciated or not. Nothing more to do about it now.

He didn’t have much time left to wait. He heard fast and angry footsteps coming down the hallway, and he knew that Seto was about to reach the bathroom. Atem fixed his pose to hopefully be more enticing, and waited for the door to open.

The door slammed open, and Seto’s wild-eyed face appeared in the doorway, eyes snapping towards Atem and then widening before the color drained from his face.

He took four angry steps towards the tub, rapidly covering the distance from the doorway to Atem, leaving the side of the bathtub between them, his eyes growing hard and cold. “What is the meaning of this?” he demanded, and Atem felt his heart stop beating.

“I… I saw.. I thought you’d…” he couldn’t get the words all the way out of his mouth with Seto staring him like that, and he realized he’d been a fool. While Seto was certainly a caring lover, he still had his dangerous side, and Atem hadn’t realized that not only had he fallen out of practice in dealing with it, but that Seto was still capable of directing it towards him. He took a deep breath. He needed to calm down.

“I saw this video suggested on youtube and thought you would like it if I looked like the woman because it was in the history and I hadn’t seen it before.” The words tumbled out of his mouth in a rush, while his ears burned and his heart thudded so loudly it felt there was a disconnect between himself and the world outside of his body. The excuse now sounded lame, especially given Seto’s surprisingly violent reaction.

Seto’s eyes looked disbelieving. “Are you sure you didn’t just want to stick my faults in my face once more, for old time’s sake? Was this whole relationship a ruse to you?”

“What?” Atem had to force his attention to Seto’s words, to his anger, and away from the burning feeling of shame that was building in his body. What was he even talking about? “Why would I _do_ that?” he asked, feeling even more naked under Seto’s eyes, which were narrowed to angry slits. Seto was clothed, aggressive, angry; none of the things Atem had expected at this point in the conversation.

“Because that’s what you have always done,” Kaiba spat back.

There was so much pain behind the anger, now that Atem was paying attention. How did he not see this before?

He ran the water, contemplating Seto’s perspective, calculating his next words.

“Don’t ignore me!” Kaiba spat, reaching for the water.

Atem grabbed his hand without thinking, paint dripping onto Seto’s hand and the cuff of his suit. He gritted his teeth; he’d never intended to get Seto’s clothes dirty. “I’m not,” he said, trying to put as much of his sincerity and caring as he could into the words. “I care about you, and me looking like this obviously is upsetting you. I am getting rid of the paint so that we can have a conversation.” The words sounded too good to Atem’s ears. How did he come up with that? He felt a disconnect between his brain and his emotions and his body.

Seto fell silent for a moment, glaring at Atem. It looked like it was taking Seto a while to catch up with his emotional response, but that Atem’s words were finally registering, and he was willing to wait.

Atem cleaned himself for a minute, heart beating loudly. He wished that he didn’t have to let go of Seto’s hand to do it. He felt so naked under Kaiba’s stare, so alone without Seto’s support.

But the pause seemed to be giving Seto time to process, for his eyes to settle down, for the anger to leave his shoulders as he rinsed his hand off, dried it on one of the two towels, and removed his suit coat. He sat on the lid of the toilet, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. 

Atem was mostly clean, still trying to get the last bits of paint out of his pubes, when Seto broke the silence. “Next time just _ask_.”

Atem’s head snapped over to Seto’s figure, eyes wide.

“I don’t like surprises, and this was a _terrible_ one.”

Atem nodded silently, continuing to absent-mindedly clean himself without looking.

“I was finding old war technology that I built as a child. I cannot let it exist still, making more orphans. I didn’t think that the video would be accessible by anyone else, nor that it would come up in a different context, let alone in _this_ wing of the house.”

Atem felt his heart stop and his mind crashed back into his body. His mouth opened into a silent “o,” as realization hit him. It  _ was  _ war. It was _exactly_ what the song said it was. It was Seto making amends. It was nothing he should have any business with, let alone like _this_. Atem nodded his head again.

When Atem opened his mouth to apologize Seto stopped him by holding up a hand. “I want you to go home tonight. I know this wasn’t what you meant, but I need time to cool down before _this_ continues.” Seto gestured between the two of them before standing up, eerily calm, collecting his suit coat, and leaving the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, gently shutting it and disconnecting him from Atem, who was left standing in the bathtub, water still running, with his mouth gaping.

* * *

Atem's nerves were on high alert that night, and Yugi could tell. It had been a few months since Atem had last spent the night in their shared room above the game shop, so that in itself was odd, but Yugi could feel forlorn energy emanating from his partner that had him concerned.

It’s how Yugi found himself googling the words “ancient Egyptian comfort food.” Most of the results were for a modern-day Egyptian dish called kushary, but one result for “15 Ancient Egyptian Foods That Will Make You Question…” sounded promising. Yugi opened both in tabs and began to read. The ancient Egyptian foods listed in the first article weren’t nearly as odd as the intro to the article made them sound. It was one of the few times that Yugi was glad the article’s title was clickbait. He didn’t want the _weird_ stuff, he wanted the _comfort food_. The second item on the list was marshmallows. That seemed both easily attainable and like a logical kind of comfort food. Sweets were a common go-to under emotional distress. Plus, Atem likely would be familiar with them, as it appeared they were commonly eaten by royalty. It was time for the two of them to make s’mores.

He skimmed the rest of the article out of curiosity, growing amused that onions were considered an aphrodisiac, and wondering at all the kinds of wild game that were eaten. A cursory look at kushary made Yugi decide it wasn’t the dish for this; not only was it modern, but he’d have to buy a lot of ingredients that he didn’t already have around the house and try to make something new--all with the potential to entirely mess it up. Maybe later. Tonight he _had_ to be there for his _aibou_.

“Want to come to the convenience store with me?” Yugi asked, breaking Atem out from yet another blank stare into space. 

Atem started, then looked guilty. “Sure Yugi,” he replied automatically, moving to stand robotically.

“You doing ok? Do you want to talk about what happened today?” Yugi asked, while moving to get his shoes.

Atem shook his head. “Seto and I got into a fight,” he explained, but fell silent otherwise. Yugi noticed him chewing on the inside of his cheek.

“What about?” he asked, tying his final shoelace.

“I did something stupid and he understandably was upset about it,” Atem said quietly. “I didn’t deserve your forgiveness after I used the Seal of Orichalcos, and I don’t know that I deserve Seto’s now.”

“What did you do?” Yugi asked, eyes going wide. Atem had also finished lacing up his shoes, so Yugi held open the door for Atem to leave through, beginning to lead the other towards the convenience store.

“I snooped in his business, got the totally wrong idea, and surprised him by bringing up bad memories.” Atem hung his head, completely unable to lie to Yugi about what had happened, especially feeling as bad as he did about the whole event.

“That doesn’t necessarily sound like your fault,” Yugi replied thoughtfully. “Certainly not solely your fault. What did Kaiba- _kun_ do about it?”

“After he got upset and we argued a bit, he calmed down, and asked me not to stay at the house tonight so that he could cool off before we talk about it again tomorrow.”

“That seems healthy,” Yugi replied. “He realized that he wasn’t entirely being fair about it and asked for space so that he could process his emotions in a way that wasn’t unfair to you.”

“I have no idea what’s in his head though,” Atem complained. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t want to be with me anymore after this.”

“Did he say that?” Yugi asked, shuffling his feet on the sidewalk to slow their pace before they reached the convenience store and had the chance of being overheard by the clerk.

“Well, no…” Atem trailed.

“Don’t jump to conclusions. Wait for him to tell you what he is thinking and feeling. Isn’t that what happened in the first place? The best way you can fix it, is to wait for Kaiba- _kun_ to tell you what he wants from you.”

Atem wrinkled his nose. “I know, but I also don’t deserve to out having a good time right now either.”

“That’s not the right way to look at it,” Yugi argued. “You can’t change what you did. Whether or not you are miserable right now, you are going to have the same conversation with him tomorrow. And it will be easier to apologize properly if you don’t beat yourself up mercilessly about it now.”

They reached the door to the store, but Yugi hesitated to let Atem talk and fix his composure before they went through the threshold. Atem glanced at Yugi. “So, like Seto says, I have to look towards the future and away from the past?”

Yugi smiled. “Something like that. Work to fix your mistake, don’t beat yourself up into paralyzation.”

Atem nodded, fixing his face before opening the door. Yugi wasn’t sure how much the words had impacted his _aibou_ , but he hoped they would help. Atem had seemed so happy with Seto lately. He would hate for one error to cause everything to end. Yugi led Atem through the store, picking up marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolates and bringing them to the counter.

“Anything else?” the clerk asked, sounding bored.

Yugi shook his head, and the clerk rang him up, barely looking at the pair. “Wait, are you related to Yugi?” the clerk finally added, just as he handed Atem the bag. “You look so similar!”

“He’s my cousin,” Yugi replied firmly, slightly amused. “Thank you.” The pair left the store quietly, before sharing a silent smile.

“Just my cousin, huh?” Atem smiled at Yugi, fondly touching his shoulder. “Though I don’t suppose it is easy to explain to convenience store clerks that we used to share our thoughts.”

Yugi smiled back. “Exactly.” At least Atem still could find humor in the situation. 

“What are the white puffs?” Atem asked. “I don’t think I have encountered them while at Seto’s house before.”

“For whatever reason, that doesn’t surprise me,” Yugi explained. “From what you’ve said, Seto makes a concerted effort to avoid having an excess of sweets or other unhealthy items in the house. Did you have something like a marshmallow in Ancient Egypt?”

Atem cocked his head. “Perhaps? What is it like?”

“It is a giant, white, fluffy…” Yugi trailed off. “Here, just try one.” He opened the bag and pulled out a marshmallow and handed it to Atem. As Atem studied it then put it in his mouth, Yugi began to ramble about the marshmallow and how nowadays it was made of gelatin, but how it originally was made from sugar from the mallow plant.

Atem didn’t seem to recognize the treat by the flavor, but the description of where the sweet came from seemed to get his attention. “We used that plant for a sweet too!” He seemed excited. “It’s got barley and nuts and honey and the sap in it. It was so sweet that only those who would become gods could handle it, otherwise it would corrupt the citizenry. We had to make it a crime for them to eat it.”

The article hadn’t said anything about _that_. “Well _we_ are going to mix it with chocolate and graham crackers to make s’mores,” Yugi said. “Does that sound good?”

Atem nodded. “I’d like to see what modern people have created using the same thing. You said these aren’t real?”

“They make it differently, without the mallow plant, but there is still a high sugar content in them.”

“But there is high sugar content in so much modern food, I think it’s probably just the mallow plant,” Atem concluded, seeming proud of his logic.

Yugi shrugged. “Besides, _you_ were a Pharaoh and _I’m_ your reincarnation. If anyone could handle them, we can.”

Atem nodded and laughed, reaching for another marshmallow. Yugi gave it to him and smiled. By the time the two had made it to the house, Atem seemed to be in higher spirits than when they had left.

* * *

Microwave s’mores cooking, Atem and Yugi settled around the kitchen table. Atem surprised Yugi by speaking first. “Do you want to see the music video that I got the bad idea from?” he asked.

Yugi’s eyes widened, but he nodded. Atem wasn’t sure why he was bringing it all up, but Yugi had been full of good advice so far, and had got him out of self-pity mode and into problem-solving mode, so he figured giving him more of the full story wouldn’t hurt. He made a motion, and Yugi immediately handed him his cell phone. Atem likely could have had a cell, had he wanted; Kaiba most certainly would have bought one for him. But Atem liked to live life as some odd combination of a millennial and an old man, perhaps because that was truly what he was.

Atem pulled up the web-browser on Yugi’s phone, and searched for “zombie bad wolves” in the search engine. Youtube was the top result, so he opened the video.

Yugi watched the video intently, and Atem pointed out the woman who he tried to imitate. Atem noticed Yugi suppressing a smile, and he realized that it was kind of funny, if he thought about it. He also noticed that despite the initial images of her covering her arms, that she was indeed wearing clothes. He’d gotten the whole thing wrong. He  _ had just  _ been being snoopy; there was no good alternate excuse. He had just filled his mind with wishful thinking and self-centered desires, and then made excuses. Kaiba was right to think that he hadn’t changed.

Atem’s eyes had just started to show defeat once more, when the microwave dinged. “S’mores are ready!” Yugi announced cheerfully. “These will be even better than the plain marshmallows!”

Atem smiled for Yugi and paused the video. Yugi reached and pulled the plate from the microwave, topping the half-sandwiches with another graham cracker and then handing one to Atem and taking the other for himself. As Yugi demonstrated how to eat them by biting into it, Atem mused that despite having been born to be a god, he had never felt more human (and perhaps the least worthy to eat such a sweet). Regardless, he still bit into the marshmallow sandwich that Yugi had called a s’more.

The flavor was delicious! A smile immediately appeared on Atem’s face, unbidden. Yugi smiled back at him. “Usually you toast the marshmallows on a fire instead, but I don’t have a place for a campfire,” Yugi explained. “But they are still pretty good, aren’t they?”

Atem nodded, quickly finishing off his s’more and then building another to get microwaved. Yugi giggled.

“I think I can provide some context as to why Kaiba- _kun_ was mad at you,” Yugi said. “It might help you figure out how to fix it.”

Atem nodded. Self-pity wouldn’t hurt. He needed to treat this as a problem to be solved.

Yugi typed in the search bar and found the youtube video for the original song. “Watch this,” he instructed, tilting his phone on the side for Atem to see.

The video more explicitly showed images about war, poverty, bullying, and death, intermixed with images of the band together and images of Dolores O’Riordan in gold paint near a crucifix. “She was the first one to make this song, she already warned us ages ago, and the war still continues. By covering yourself like the second woman, Kaiba-kun likely thought you were trying to chastise him for ever playing a role in making war.”

“And as soon as he realized I had no idea what was going on, he backed off,” Atem marveled. He had Seto’s intentions wrong even now. He had been surprised by Kaiba’s hurt and anger, but really he should have been surprised at how easily Seto had controlled himself, pulled himself back, and redirected himself away from Atem.

“Seto has come a long way,” Atem marveled, glancing down. “I need to meet him there.”

Yugi nodded. “So how do you provide Kaiba- _kun_ the support that you would like to have given in the first place?”

Atem thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I need to show him that I am sorry. But I also want him to know that he doesn’t have to go at it alone.”

Yugi nodded. “Then let’s figure out how to do that.”

* * *

Mokuba had tried to make himself as scarce as possible, not wanting to accidentally happen upon whatever messy sex Atem had conjured up when it inevitably ended up in the regular wings of the house. The only truly safe place was his room, so he locked himself in there, hoping that if they moved to Seto’s room that he’d be able to do _some_ activity that would out-decibel the pair’s coupling. So he was surprised when just one pair of footsteps could be heard marching down the hallway, and at the force behind the steps. The door to Seto’s room slammed, and … that was it. Something was wrong.

Mokuba decided to give it a few minutes before he intruded, but he knew instinctively that Seto would need his support tonight. Mokuba continued reading his math homework, until there was a loud crashing sound in Seto’s room. Was Seto destroying things? Or had his footsteps been heavy because he’d been carrying Atem? Was that the sex? Mokuba chewed on the inside of his cheek. He hadn’t heard any voices yet, so he couldn’t tell who was there. He decided to risk it.

He quietly crawled out of his bed and put on his house slippers, before turning down the hallway and timidly knocking on the door to his brother’s room. Nerves settled in his stomach as he awaited what he’d see. Hopefully not a naked Atem.

The door opened quickly, and his brother’s face filled the door frame. There was anger there, but it was tempered by soft caring and concern. Mokuba knew he had to be brave, in case the anger was directed at him because he was interrupting things. Seto was blocking the view into the room, so Mokuba had no context. “Are you ok _nii-sama_? I heard something break.”

The softness on Seto’s face intensified. “I’m sorry for worrying you Mokuba,” Seto replied. “I am alright.”

“What happened?” Mokuba hoped the details wouldn’t be too explicit.

“Atem was an idiot, but he wasn’t meaning to be. I told him to leave so I could calm down. I am still finding a place to channel my anger.” On closer inspection, it did look like Seto was having a hard time holding back a surge of strong emotions.

Mokuba nodded. “Break whatever you need Seto!” Atem’s plan didn’t work, and Seto wasn’t going to have the relaxation he deserved. That meant it was his job to be a good brother tonight. His instincts were right. Mokuba was instantly mad at Atem for being so far off-track with his ideas. Even if Seto had forgiven him right away, Mokuba wasn’t sure he should.

“When you get done, want to go play the batting game with me at the arcade?”

Seto smiled. “Sure, that seems like a great way to blow off some steam.”

The door to the room closed, and Mokuba clenched his fist as he heard yet another (likely expensive) object crashing to the floor.

* * *

At some point, Atem realized that Mokuba would be a good source of help, since he knew Seto well. Also, he might be able to help him identify where the weapons were that Seto was concerned about. Maybe Atem could still tap into some of his power as a former Pharaoh, and destroy the weapons from a distance. It was nearly eleven, but he decided to shoot Mokuba a message, to see if he could help. He pulled up DragOn (Kaiba Corp’s social networking site) on Yugi’s phone and clicked on Mokuba’s name.

_[I know I screwed up today, and I probably shouldn’t be asking for your help again_ ] he began, typing the next sentence.

[ _Damn right_ ] came Mokuba’s response before he could get done.

Atem chose to finish typing and ignore it, even as his gut sank. [ _I don’t know what Seto told you, but I have learned more about the situation and I want to make it right. I want to see if I can find the rest of the weapons he was working on and destroy them for him]_

There was a very long pause, and Atem felt anxiety creep in. There weren’t even ellipses for Mokuba typing. When they did finally appear, it took upwards of five minutes for Mokuba to finally send his response. Obviously, there was a lot of turmoil going on in the youngster’s brain.

[ _What exactly happened between the two of you today?_ ] Maybe Atem could get through to Mokuba after all.

* * *

Atem waited anxiously near his phone all day, having put together his plan for facing Seto last night. His sleep had been fitful, worried that things would not work out as he hoped. Mokuba had eventually been receptive to helping him, though he didn’t have much information for Atem to go on. It seemed Seto’s quest had been news to Mokuba too. Still, it was as much of a plan as Atem would get, so all he needed now was permission to go back to the house.

Around noon the text finally came. [ _I’m ready._ ]

[ _I will be there soon_ ]. Atem’s reply was probably so immediate that it was apparent that he’d already been staring forlornly at his phone, especially given that it was an old flip phone with almost nothing else to do on it, and no one else’s numbers programmed into it.

He grabbed his already-packed bags, yelled a goodbye and thank you to Yugi, and began the trek to the city so he could grab a taxi to the Kaiba estate.

By the time he arrived, Atem’s nerves were on edge. He walked through the security system unimpeded, but wasn’t sure where he’d find Seto when he got to the house. He hoped it wasn’t too much of a game of hide-and-seek.

Luckily, it seemed Seto knew the conversation was too important to wait as well, and was waiting in the living room closest to the entrance hallway for Atem. 

“Do you want to go somewhere more comfortable to talk?” Seto asked as soon as the wary greetings were over.

“Sure,” Atem agreed, allowing himself to be led to Seto’s bedroom. The room had always amused him in the past, as it was the only thing about Seto that reminded Atem that he very nearly was still a teenager. Paper posters of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, Kaibaman, and other superheroes and duel monsters were pasted to the dark blue walls in a disorderly fashion, and if the maid hadn’t been allowed in recently, dirty clothes would be in small piles on the floor and the four-poster bed would be unmade. In this case, it reminded Atem how young Seto actually was, and how much responsibility and weight had been on him all these years.

A moment of gratitude for Seto passed over Atem, as he realized that he would have had an even worse fate on the matter if Seto’s stubbornness hadn’t rescued him. Even in the afterlife, his reward for stopping Zorc with his life, Atem faced the responsibility of caring for his people. It wasn’t unpleasant, as disputes in the afterlife were minor and the crops always grew, but he still was required to put on the face of a stately king for other’s sakes. Gods couldn’t just stop being Gods simply because they spent time among the living.

Atem didn’t wait for Seto to start talking. He knew what he needed to apologize for. “I’m sorry Seto, not just for misreading the situation and causing you undue stress, but for snooping into your business in the first place. I know we weren’t there yet, and it was wrong of me to do so.”

Atem paused and swallowed, waiting to see how Seto would respond.

Seto nodded in acknowledgment, seeming to sense that Atem had more to say.

“I know that apologies are meaningless if they are not also backed by action. I know that it is hard to trust that I meant no harm, but I would like to try to repair things if you will let me.” Atem’s breath caught in his throat, and he paused unintentionally. His eyes snapped from Seto’s cheekbone, where he’d been staring so as to not get lost in Seto’s emotions, to Seto’s eyes, and got pulled into their intensity. There was conflict, turmoil, and pain, just like last night. But now they also contained a new resolve that had been missing before. And maybe, in the far back of Seto’s eyes, a faint glimmer of hope. 

“I want to help you destroy those weapons, if you will let me.” And now surprise bubbled to the surface of Seto’s eyes and Atem was rambling to try and keep the emotion positive. “I know their existence seems to hurt you. You are the one that taught me to look to the future, to keep the past from haunting me, to live in the moment, and I want to help you do the same here. But only if you will let me.”

Uncertainty crept into Seto’s eyes now, and Atem’s belly dropped. Perhaps he should have just dropped the subject altogether. But after a brief struggle, Seto nodded.

“I cannot believe my first instincts when it comes to you,” Seto replied. “I need to take a step back and realize that even if you are dead wrong about everything, you have never meant ill towards me. And it’s hard to get past that sometimes. Because you have attacked everything I am and made me rebuild myself more than once. You have managed to reimagine _your_ view of _me_ ; I need to take my own advice and stop living in the past and look towards the future. Our future.”

Atem nodded, warmth bubbling in his stomach, but allowing Seto to talk. “I don’t think I fully grasped the repercussions of bringing you back here. In the end, I am responsible for you: even if you _can_ go back to Yugi, I don’t want you to. I chose to selfishly pull you out of time and tie you to this earth, even knowing the kind of person you are, and the kind of person I am. So it is my responsibility to grow with you. To overcome our past and pave a future that includes you. Because I’ll be damned if I brought you here only to abandon you over something stupid.”

_That_ was Seto’s resolve. Atem felt warm and giddy inside. How did he miss all of this? How did he view their relationship as casual, when it started so dramatically? “Thank you for bringing me here, Seto.” Atem’s voice was barely above a whisper, sincere, full of hope. “Thank you for looking after my future too.”

A tear? No, don’t let him cry… but it was already happening and Atem felt his relief bubble out of his eyes. Seto’s arms were around him, and he embraced Seto back, putting strength and comfort into the gesture. When they pulled away, Seto was not the only one with a wet shoulder. Atem took Seto’s hand, and they both smiled at each other. Things would be ok.

“Now what?”

**Author's Note:**

> Bad Wolves' Cover of Zombie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XaS93WMRQQ  
> Original Cranberries version of Zombie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts  
> Thanks to Sixy for helping me name DragOn, the social media platform


End file.
